Going to school and coming back home safely

I am going to take you back, perhaps way back for some but, when you think back to your primary school days, how did you get to school? Many of us were dropped off by our parents, others went on a school-bus or even a taxi but how many walked to school? And if you walked, how safe were you?

South Africa has one of the highest road accident rates in the world. According to SANRAL, 3 children die on South African roads daily, bear in mind that 11.4 million children walk to school. With this information in mind, is walking out of the road enough for a child to be safe while walking to school?

Human-error accounts for the most amount of accidents on the road. From driving past the speed limit to driving when inebriated. Other factors include environmental conditions and very seldom, vehicle malfunctioning. When children walk to school, there are risks that need to be avoided by taking the necessary action to ensure that their walk to and from school is a safe one.

Visibility is critical when walking on any road. It is important to make a child’s visibility blatant to motorists and with products like Repurpose Schoolbags it is possible. Each Repurpose Schoolbags is fitted with two retro-reflective strips and made with vibrant colours to heighten a child’s visibility to motorists.

We must be mindful of the dangers that come with walking to school and thus take the necessary precautions to make sure that children come back home from school unharmed.

Changing something small like a child’s schoolbag can save the child’s life.